The Truth Will Set You Free

Amad is a journalist from Sierra Leone.

I asked him why he had come to Moria, and he told me his story:

Last year, he wrote a story on a local strongman who was forcing little girls into child marriages.

A few weeks later, he and two friends were driving through the hills when they were ambushed by a group of hit-men. Amad's friends were killed, and Amad was knocked unconscious, with a bullet to the back of the head.

He was rescued by a group of local villagers who brought him to the nearest hospital, and miraculously, he survived. He found a way to Turkey, where he stayed for a few months before making the crossing to Lesvos.

"There is no freedom of speech in Africa," Amad tells me, "It is very hard to be a journalist."

"Would you still write the same stories, if you knew what would happen?" I ask.

Amad is pensive and silent for a moment. Then, he speaks.

"Of course," He says. "You must tell the truth. The truth will set you free."